News06 January 2020Thomas Simoneit

VoiceBot Part 1: A Flexible and Reliable Friend

Interactive and intelligent voice services in customer care continue to gain ground. Even international corporations like Amazon still rely on the phone as their preferred contact channel, thanks to its high First Contact Resolution Rate (FCR).

Example 1: The furniture and home accessories trade. "Swamped" at the furniture discounter

In Germany, according to Statista, people spend around 400 euros per capita every year on furniture and home accessories, with total market volume reaching a hefty 42.3 billion euros in 2017. The large furniture discounters and cash-and-carry stores compete fiercely for every single customer. And customers expect 24/7 availability of customer service, with quick, straightforward, and reliable answers to their questions. So when the discounter's new weekly flyer with fresh offers lands on kitchen tables across Germany, phones start ringing off the hook in the sometimes hundreds of branches nationwide: "Is the wall unit from the current ad still available?" or "How long are you open today?" are just two of the typical questions.

In our example, the project team of CreaLog experts and customer service managers had determined in advance that around 30 percent of callers reach service staff with easy-to-answer standard questions. But these don't necessarily need to be answered by a human. A modern VoiceBot can do it better, more cost-effectively, and stays completely relaxed around the clock. Skilled customer service staff are relieved of answering the same standard questions over and over, freeing them up to handle trickier cases such as scheduling installation appointments or complaints. And as we'll see next, even complex inquiries can now be automated successfully.

VoiceBot at the furniture discounter: product availability and delivery status

A CreaLog VoiceBot has been in use at the furniture discounter since October 2017. Initially, it focused mainly on providing information about product availability at individual branches: after entering their postal code and the desired item number, customers receive the relevant information for the nearest furniture store. If the product is no longer in stock there, customers can extend their search to another branch or ask about an alternative product. To provide current and reliable answers, the VoiceBot was connected to the large furniture discounter's inventory management system.

Sounds simple – and it is

The brand-new VoiceBot module now also covers the entire area of delivery status, offering yet another piece of comprehensive information for many situations: Is it a complete fitted kitchen delivered by a freight forwarder, or just a decorative item delivered by a parcel service?

For delivery inquiries at the furniture discounter, customers who call their local store directly are transferred to the VoiceBot. There, callers identify themselves using their customer number and a PIN printed on the purchase contract. Once identification is successful, the actual process of providing information on the current delivery status begins right away. If customers don't have their customer number and PIN on hand, the call is routed as usual to one of the human customer service advisors, who are happy to help. Initial evaluations show that an impressive number of inquiries are resolved by the VoiceBot on the spot – and acceptance among callers keeps rising.